Grateful for being reminded of this, by Ashley Ramsden, one of many truly moving moments at the Oxford Storytelling Festival. But this one, well, hearken …

“There is a Beautiful Creature
Living in a hole you have dug.

So at night
I set fruit and grains
And little pots of wine and milk
Besides your soft earthen mounds,

And I often sing.

But still, my dear,
You do not come out.

I have fallen in love with Someone
Who hides inside you.

We should talk about this problem–

Otherwise,
I will never leave you alone.”

― Hafiz, ‘I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy’

Audio Recording – SoundCloud 41 seconds

Why was I so moved? This piece speaks to my deepest heart. It reaches, calling to the heart of the almost unanswerable. How deeply and wholly can we appreciate that there is no separation, even from our most beloved on this earth?

Did Hafiz, in writing such, have a yearned for love in mind? Possibly, but I will never know, for sure.  Yet it felt so real,  essential, instinctual this expression when I heard it read. My gut says yes, this would be me, of you.

I will grow fruits, perhaps it is possible, you will join me for a little refreshment. We may talk, but even that might not be needed; in that we then reveal ourselves and our knowing a little, of that indivisable mystery.

‘Misterkaki’